Airship.



T. R. MACMECHEN & W. V. KAMP.

AIRSHIP. APPLICATION FILED OCT. 7. 1916. 1,238,316. Patented Aug. 28, 1917.

V r f I)! r/// UNITED STATES PAT OFFICE.

THOMAS RUTHERFORD MACMECI-IEN AND WALTER V. KAIVIP, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

AIBSHIP.

Application filed October 7, 1916.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that Trroams RUTHERFORD B'IAUMEGHEN and ammi V. Kimrr, citizens of the United States, and residents of the borough and county of Bronx, city and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Airships, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improved means for aifording durable bearing surfaces between girder bars of wood, and metal compression posts or struts such as are described in our companion case Serial No. 12192l, 1n airship frame structures, and our said improvement consists in the provision of metal sleeves, rectangular in cross-section, which lit snugly within the apertures in the struts aforesaid, and themselves simply receive and incase a suitable lengthwise section of a girder bar, to afford extended, supporting bearings therefor.

The metal sleeves, which comprise sockets for the girder bars, are secured within the metal struts by welding, brazing or soldering them thereto in their adjusted positions, or by otherwise connecting said elements; and the girder bars, which become incased by said sleeves, may be secured thereto, to prevent shifting longitudinally, by suitable means, as by forming inturned teeth upon said sleeves, and causing said teeth to become firmly embedded in the material of said bars.

In the dr. wing Figure 1 is a horizontal section of a strut, apertured to contain our improved bearing sleeves and the girder bars entered therein.

Fig. 2 is a partial, vertical section of the same, showing a longitudinal bar in crossscct-ion, and

Fig. 3 is a similar view, wherein the strut is positioned to show a longitudinal bar in longitudinal section.

In the example of our invention illustrated herewith we have shown a tubular strut or radial compression member 1, having alined rectangular apertures 2 in its opposite walls, so as to contain a bar 3 of a longitudinal girder; said strut also having alined rectangular apertures 4c in its opposite walls, arranged transversely with relation to the axis through the apertures 2, so as to receive the opposed, meeting ends of bars 5, forming part of the transverse or hoop girders of the air ship.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 28, 1917.

Serial N 0. 124,402.

A metal sleeve 6, rectangular in cross section, and of suitable length, fits snugly within the apertures 2, intersecting the diameter of tube 1, and extending out beyond the walls thereof. Said sleeve is rigidly secured to said tube, as by welding, brazing or soldering it to the walls thereof, so that said sleeve becomes, to all intents and purposes, an integral part of the strut. The flanges 7, which may be spread out from the apertures 2 in the strut, in the formation of said apertures as pointed out in our said co-pending case Serial No. 121924, afford desirable points of contact with sleeve 6 for effecting the stated union between these members.

A bar 8 of a longitudinal girder, being now introduced within the sleeve 6, where it should have a close fit, thus receives an extended supporting bearing corresponding to the length of the sleeve. By this means the surface of the bar 3, which, being of wood and therefore relatively soft, is free from the liability of becoming indented, and thus creating a loose joint, as might be the case if the girder bar surfaces were in direct impinging contact, in the apertures 2, with the wall edges of the tubular strut. On the other hand, by the sleeved connecting means indicated, the joint is rendered rigid and durable, the contact being that of metal upon metal, and the service and life of the joint are correspondingly increased.

To prevent lengthwise shifting of the bar 3 within the sleeve, the latter may have teeth, as 8, which may be struck from the material thereof, and pressed inwardly, when the bar is within the sheath, to thereby enter and be come embedded within the fiber of the bar material. Said teeth 8 may lie oppositely, the better to hold the bar against shifting movement in both directions.

The hollow strut 1 may also have the opposite apertures 4: in its walls, arranged, in the instance shown, with their common axis transverse to the axis of apertures 2, and intended for the reception, respectively, of the abutting ends of the bars 5, forming part of the polygonal or hoop girders employed in our stated airship frame construction.

Sleeves of metal, as 10, are employed to incase said bar ends, and to fit within the apertures 4, in manner similar to the disposition of sleeve 6 with respect to the apertures 2 and bar 3, and with the same objects in view. The sleeves 10 may have'the teeth 11, to prevent lengthwise shifting movement of the bars 5 in said sheaths.

Obviously the strut 1, which may be composed of several lengths, may be provided with only one or with a plurality of pairs of opposite apertures, this all depending upon the particular location of the strut length in the airship frame structure and the special function it is to fulfil with relation to the girder bars and the radial support to be ac corded the girders in the frame fabric.

lVe claim 1. The combination, with a hollow metal compression member for airship frame con struction, said member having opposite apertures in its walls, of a metal sheath fitted and secured within said apertures, said sheath lying across said member and extending in opposite directions beyond its walls, to receive and form an extended bearing for a girder bar.

The combination, with a hollow metal compression member for airship frame construction, said member having opposite apertures in its walls, of a metal sheath fitted and secured within said apertures, said sheath lying across said member and extending in opposite directions beyond its walls, a girder bar fitted within said sheath, and

means for preventing lengthwise shifting of said bar in said sheath.

3. The combination, with a hollow metal compression member for airship frame construction, said member having opposite pairs of apertures in its walls, whose axes intersect each other, of a metal sheath fitted and secured within one pair of said apertures, said sheath lying across said member and extending in opposite directions beyond its walls; and a pair of metal sheaths, fitted, respectively, in the apertures of the other pair of apertures, in end abutting relation, respectively, with the first named sheath; said pair of sheaths respectively, extending in opposite directions beyond the walls of said member; said first named sheath, and said pair of sheaths, respectively, forming extended bearings for a. longitudinal bar, and for the abutting ends of opposed hoop girder bars.

Signed at the borough of Manhattan in the city, county and State of New York this 3rd day of October A. D. 1916.

THOS. RUTHERFORD MACMECHEN. WALTER V. KAMI.

WVitnesses F. W. BARKER, L. MASKOWITZ.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). C. 

